MAPS.org Psychedelic and Science Conference April 2017

Founded in 1986, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.

NEW THINKING ALLOWED is a long-running independent public television series and an extensive video library developed from the series. Hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D.,New Thinking Allowed provides an open, non-adversarial forum for the exchange of intelligent, alternative ideas.

Ayahuasca as Transformational Medicine with Rachel Harris

The Shadow Side of Ayahuasca with Rachel Harris

Grandmother Ayahuasca with Rachel Harris

NEW WORLD LIBRARY PRESENTS:

Listening To Ayahuasca offers New Hope for Healing

March 2017

Psychologist and author Dr. Rachel Harris introduces her book LISTENING TO AYAHAUSCA: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety. She shares about her own healing experience with ayahuasca and draws from her original research into the medicine's powerful healing benefits.

81 subjects who used ayahuasca at least once in North America answered a lengthy set of open-ended questions and completed the 81-item "After the Spiritual Experience" Questionnaire. An additional 50 ayahuasca users were interviewed in person. The data for this study represent ayahuasca experience based on more than 2,267 ceremonies.

A comparison group of 46 people attending a Catholic spiritual retreat weekend also completed the "After the Spiritual Experience" Questionnaire. A factor analysis of this questionnaire yielded three factors: Joy in Life, Relationship to the Sacred, and Toxic Feelings. Although the ayahuasca users had significantly higher scores on the first two factors, the two groups had modest mean differences indicating a similar response to two very different spiritual experiences. This key finding strongly supports the view that ayahuasca users are engaged in an authentic process as spiritual in nature as that of the retreatants. The qualitative data revealed that ayahuasca users reduced their alcohol intake, ate healthier diets, enjoyed improved mood and greater self-acceptance, and felt more loving and compassionate in their relationships. 74% of the ayahuasca users said they had a relationship with and received ongoing guidance and support from the spirit of ayahuasca.